This paper investigates how the selected three East Asian countries--Japan, Korea, and Taiwan-- introduce and develop ideas related to fractions and fraction addition and subtraction compared to the Common Core State Standards of Mathematics and EngageNY. Looking at curricular approaches used across countries can provide a better picture of what…

The present study used a new assessment technique, the story-generation task, to examine students' understanding of subtraction scenes. The students from four grade levels (110 first-, 107 third-, 110 fourth- and 119 sixth-graders) generated stories under the constraints provided by a picture (representing Change, Combine or Compare scene) and a…

The framework of Tharp and Gallimore (1988) was adapted to form a ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) Model of Mathematical Proficiency that identifies two interacting kinds of learning activities: instructional conversations that assist understanding and practice that develops fluency. A Class Learning Path was conceptualized as a classroom path…

Discusses a class on subtraction or difference-finding, problems such as "There are eight white flowers and five red flowers, how many more white flowers are there than red flowers?" used in the teaching of Japanese first grade children. Describes three instances of introductory teaching of "difference-finding" problems in the…

Japanese methods of teaching subtraction to first graders, which emphasize the involvement of the children in developing and solving problems, are discussed. The conventional vertical format for solving problems was not introduced immediately. Some results encountered by American teachers using these methods are also discussed. (IS)

This brief report compares the lessons on addition and subtraction of signed whole numbers in three seventh-grade Japanese mathematics texts and four U.S. mathematics texts. Japanese books contained many more worked-out examples and relevant illustrations, while U.S. books had more irrelevant illustrations and unsolved problems. (SLD)